AVI File Extension
Have a problem opening a .AVI file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what AVI files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.
Have a problem opening a .AVI file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what AVI files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.
AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. AVI files typically contain movies and other sorts of videos. The format itself was created in 1992 by Microsoft. Being a container format, AVI may include audio and video data, uncompressed (raw) or compressed using any known scheme. Quite often AVI files contain video compressed with the DivX or Xvid codec and MP3 or WAV audio, but virtually any codec may be used. Uncompressed (also known as Full Frame) video files can be very big. To play AVI files that contain audio and video compressed with certain codecs, software and hardware players need the corresponding codec to be available. Thus it is not uncommon that some AVI files play fine (the corresponding codec is available) while others fail to show any picture or produce other problems (no codec).
Multiple audio tracks may be saved inside a single .avi file. Some players ignore this fact and play all available audio tracks from a multi-track AVI file at the same time.
AVI is a quite popular video format, and AVI files are often supported by hardware players.